


Lithium

by curateipsum



Category: The Amazing World of Gumball
Genre: AU, Bipolar Disorder, Bipolardisorder, Depression, Gumball is 15, MDD, Major Depressive Disorder, Mental Illness, cyclothymia, mental health
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-18
Updated: 2019-03-18
Packaged: 2019-11-24 00:22:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18158996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/curateipsum/pseuds/curateipsum
Summary: One day, Gumball forgets his medication and has the best day of his life.





	Lithium

Is this worth it? He had to ask. He scanned the search results another time, and read the same old facts. 

Just one day, just one day, if I could go one day without my morning pill. Maybe I would be happy again. Just like last time when I happened to forget, and my siblings and parents in our rushing, all happened to forget my Lithium. His head was a script of something like that. 

That Friday, he had went into first period and taken his seat next to Tobias Wilson. Although Tobias was multicolored, and so stuck out like a sore thumb would-Gumball was glowing uncontrollably. 

His thoughts came so excitingly fast, and fuck, his lungs felt like they were oozing joy. He felt like crying, and hugging Tobias who was next to him. Was this how other people always felt? Alive? THIS was what living was supposed to be like, Gumball knew. 

He had so many ideas, and although he couldn’t execute them in finance class, he was feeling giddy anyway. In English he calmed down some, but then his high returned. His high returned with full force, it did, and it made him so happy to have the sun pooling around his hands and notebook through the giant windowsills in the biology classroom. 

The rest of the day, he soared. When he came to lunch therapy, Mr. Small looked at him with wild eyes, and he sunk back into his chair as Gumball bounced off every wall. He was speaking and thinking so fast, he didn’t know what he was really thinking or saying. He felt like a happy open book. He felt antsy for the rest of his time on earth to come and let him experience it all!

He was finally feeling fully alive for the first time since he was a kid! 

———-  
He got very upset when his parents did not believe all that was happening inside him. They did not believe the report of rapid thoughts and of his insurmountable euphoria. They called this all a “good day.” This made him angry. So angry like in phys ed, when they’d hurt his pride (how dare they!) 

So hurt inside. His parents had their heads up their asses in denial! Why couldn’t they put aside their fear for him and see his concerns?

That was a Friday. He took his usual 600 milligrams of Lithium at nine-thirty p.m. that evening.

The next day, his beautiful joy was gone. He didn’t care much about going to Europe anymore. 

Weeks later, he bemoans the loss of Eden still-wonders what could be if he stopped his cursed Lithium-what would have been if he had forgotten Saturday’s dosage. But he was too numb to cry for his loss. So his heart beside his now mirthless lungs cried for him, tiring his whole body out. 

He’d had it up to here! He wanted his joy back! He wanted it back! 

Was his experiment worth it? This was dangerous but maybe he would get lucky, and this was a good time. He could end up pondering suicide, like one time before. He could end up a mess. But he could end up being alive again. It reduces risk of suicide, it’s said, but does not keep me from wanting it.

Quickly, Gumball slipped the pill up his sleeve, and trotted out the door into the morning gray.

**Author's Note:**

> So I probably shouldn’t have posted this. I wrote this super fast in a bad mood. 
> 
> As for an explanation of the story: basically,,,
> 
> Gumball is taking Lithium, a mood stabilizer, for depression. Lithium is usually used as a final resort when antidepressants such as Prozac, Lexipro, and Zoloft don’t help. Its primary usage is for treatment of Bipolar Disorder. The story is that one day when he forgets his medicine, he has symptoms that mimic the mania (or hypomania in Gumball’s maybe case) that Lithium is known to treat. He tries to tell his parents of his symptoms when he calms down slightly, but they don’t listen, out of fear he might need a new diagnosis. This hurts and invalidates Gumball, and later in time, he continues to weep inside over the loss of his elevated mood, which made him feel “alive” after suffering from intense depressive states. So he decides not to take his medicine. However, there’s no evidence that the lack of Lithium could have caused his elevated mood-Lithium is a poorly understood medication, and you would reportedly have to be off it for a while to have serious side effects due to lacking. Or not. Again. It’s uncertain. 
> 
> Based off a true story, though.


End file.
